Store fronts on Rodeo Drive, photo courtesy of WWD.

L.A. Specialty Boutiques Rocked by Shutdowns (WWD)
In LA, troubled boutiques are closing in droves.

The New Rules Of Luxury Spending (Forbes)
“Today’s high-net-worth consumers are still spending–but they’re putting more thought into their purchases.”

Ideeli.com, Ideal Online Shopping? (JC Report)
Ideeli’s invitation only online retail model is proving to be recession proof.

Retail Sales Tumbled in December (WSJ)
In December, retail sales figures in the US, “fell a sixth consecutive time.”

Priya Kishore, a beacon for Bombay's new creative elite, courtesy of Bombay Electric

NEW DELHI, India – When Priya Kishore and Bombay Electric hit Mumbai a few years ago, Mumbaikars didn’t know what was coming. No sooner had Kishore arrived than she became a beacon for Bombay’s new creative elite – one with a rightful place on the world stage.

A friend while she lived in London, Priya always had this wonderful creative streak, dressed in quirky clothes and popping colours. No wonder Mumbai has taken to her so well – she shares her love for colour with many of the denizens of India’s most populous city.

Of course, all hasn’t been rosy of late. With a terrorist siege that lasted well over three day, Indians have been in the streets, exercising their rights, in this, the largest democracy in the world.

But life goes on. Priya just opened Pocket Electric, India’s first pop-up store in New Delhi. Could she be testing the grounds for a Delhi invasion? We reached her there to find out more in our latest CEO Talk, a BoF Exclusive. … Continue Reading

Buenos Aires is a city better known as the home of the Tango, but one day it may become known as the land of the killer retail concept.

Across this metropolis of 11 million people, from the uber-cool urban jungle in Palermo Viejo to the elegant boulevards of Recolota, a retail explosion has taken place, proving that Argentina has truly bounced back from the economic crisis that virtually paralysed the country at the beginning of the millennium.

Our favourite barrio (and everyone else’s) is Palermo Soho, named for one of its urban brethren in New York. The intersection of El Salvador and Armenia is analagous to Spring and Mercer, the heart from which all the action emanates. But that’s where the similarities end.

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There was quite a bit of interest our recent post  Discreet Luxury – A Segment to watch. Stealth wealth consumers want something special and discreet and therefore reject obvious logos, product ubiquity and sameness. Though the category is dominated by thousands of small, independent brands, Bottega Veneta is the one global brand that has been emblematic of how well this can work from a business standpoint.

This video supplements a Wall Street Journal article entitled Inside a Salon that Serves the Logo-Phobic and takes you inside Yuta Powell’s discrete luxury boutique in New York’s Plaza Athénée Hotel (I didn’t know New York had its own Plaza Athenee either!). The store stocks niche luxury brands like Boudicca, Azzaro and Kiton and each product must pass through Ms. Powell’s exacting standards for quality and craftsmanship, honed during a long career at Givenchy.

Ms. Powell says "This is slow fashion; fewer but better clothes."

After having checked out some of the more up-and-coming areas of L.A, it was time to visit the king and queen of luxury and fashion here: Rodeo Drive and Robertson Boulevard.

The most remarkable thing about both these streets is that the stores really are an extension of the brands themselves. In Paris, London and even New York, most brands are constrained by existing building facades and building codes which they must work around as they design their stores. In Los Angeles, it appears that the brands have complete freedom in design, and therefore, if done well, every aspect from the sparkling exteriors, the natural lighting, the size of logos outside the building, and even the dramatic entrances off the street are messages about the brand. It was truly impressive.

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